Monthly Archives: October 2013

I came across Talee and the Fallen Object written by Jaquitta A. McManus, while trying to device a marketing plan for Goo and Spot and the Do NOt Wiggle Riddle. Author Jaquitta A. McManus, is a brilliant example of a well executed book launch.

I decided to take a peek at her book, hoping to introduce chapter books to my nearly five year old. I must admit- initially Yumi, showed little interest in the book and asked “where are the PICTURES?” There are beautifully illustrated pictures in this early reader chapter book, but being that Yumi and I still read only picture books she expected ALL pictures. Well if you know my sassy little lady, it was more like demanded. I put the book down and gave it a second try a week later, this time I had read the book previously and had gotten a feel for the style and the story.

Talee spelled T-A-L-E-E and pronounced (TAH-Lee), is an eight year old girl who introduces herself to the reader by teaching us the correct pronunciation as well as the spelling, which I thought was both clever and adorable. Yumi, can definitely relate, as she has recently shown an interest in spelling (her new favorite thing to do besides draw) and is quick to tell you her name is pronounced (YOU-ME) not YUMMY!

From the very first page the reader is engaged with the following… “I just came in from outside. The sun is warm. Can you feel it?” this sets the tone of the story about a chatty and curious little girl with a bit of sassiness, who lives in an extraordinary place. Author Jaquitta A. McManus, has created great balance by writing a fantasy adventure with a character who is charmingly relatable, and a planet that is equally magical.

The planet of Gala, “the best planet ever.” is composed of floating land masses filled with Calpas,” big friendly flying animals.” What I loved about the book was how believable the character of Talee, is- a spunky, mischievous little girl that is not much unlike my own little girl.

Although this book is not something I would have typically read to Yumi, after the first chapter she did not even remember her demand for pictures, she was engaged in the story and made two new comments “oh that Calpa is so cute!” and “that’s all you will read tonight?” (wanting to be read more of the story).
I do think it is a bit too difficult for younger children to follow by themselves but would definitely recommend it for children 6years old to 9years old. Or if you are looking to introduce chapter books to your young children by reading out-loud, start here and check out Talee and the Fallen Object by Jaquitta A. McManus.

Takashi Yanase, creator of Japanese superhero Anpanman, died this month October, 2013, at age 94. Today’s post honors this great visionary, whose work was at one time, rejected.
In American pop culture superheroes have long had their place, from humble beginnings in their appearances in comic books to muti-million dollar making motion-pictures. Superheroes make for great entertainment, they are strong, powerful and nearly invincible if it were not for their ” kryptonite”, an invisible weakness. What draws children as well as adults to these superheroes? Is it that somewhere inside every one of us is the desire to fight injustice and be stronger than our struggles? Superheroes such as Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and Iron Man, all have one thing in common, an obligation to save while hiding their vulnerability.

How does this relate to a children’s animation character and Mr. Takashi Yanase? Mr. Takashi Yanase, managed to break his character Anpanman, free of the expected hero-role. Years ahead of his time, Mr. Yanase created a character that was as equally vulnerable and giving as he was powerful. Anpanman, whose head is made of traditional Japanese bread stuffed with read bean paste, will allow any starving creature to eat part of his head. The mere thought of this being shown to young children, explains the initial rejection Mr. Yanase, received. What would provoke anyone to create such a seemingly gruesome concept and direct it towards young children? It was Mr. Yanase’s strong belief that true injustice stemmed from greed.

Having lived through World War II, Mr. Yanase, felt that even in the midst of war, one should reach out to those in need, regardless of nationality. Anpanman, was born as a desire to instill in children such message.

The anime adaptation of Anpanman, is one of the most popular anime series amongst young children in Japan, and has remained the most popular fictional character for children ages 0-12 years old in Japan for 10 consecutive years.

We have stormy weather out here, the wind is blowing, the trees are shaking, and the weather is chill.

Perfect to huddle under a blanket and read books. Tonight’s books were a real treat too… It is great to rediscover books, tonight’s two favorites were

The Marriage of the Young Mouse Girl, text by Kerry Muir, K. Haruta, U. Inui and The True Story ofThe 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

Yumi, giggled throughout the entire reading of The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs! , when she really likes a book she will ask for it to be read “AGAIN!” as soon as the last page is finished, tonight she BEGGED!

The True Story of The Three Little Pigs, is such a brilliant book, the rhythm and word choice are perfect. Easily one of the best books for both adults and children, I have read.

Our second favorite tonight, The Marriage of the Young Mouse Girl, this is a retelling of Japanese Folk Tale. What a fresh read, a story not often heard with a message that is unexpected, enjoyable and strong.

The story begins with Mr. Mouse and Mrs. Mouse, proudly holding their newborn baby girl. Baby mouse girl, grows up to be both beautiful and clever. Her parents are very proud, and set out to find her the greatest man in the world for her to marry, as Mr.and Mrs. Mouse put it …

“Our daughter is the best in all Japan. We must give her to the greatest man in the world.”

They set out to find the greatest man in the world, Mr. Sun, for “No one is greater than he.”

So Mr. Mouse sets out to ask Mr. Sun, to marry his daughter Mr. Mouse says

“I have come to give my most important daughter to the greatest man in the world. Since you are the greatest man in the world, please accept my daughter.” However Mr. Sun, tells Mr. Mouse there is someone

greater than he, Mr. Cloud for “when the clouds come out, I have to give up. I cannot compete with the clouds.”

Mr. Mouse goes to Mr. Clouds,

who directs him to Mr. Wind.

Mr.Wind send him off to find Mr. Wall

and Mr. Wall, wise and strong,

gives Mr. Mouse a new point of view, that both humbles and empowers Mr. Mouse

Who does the finest mouse in all Japan, marry?

Find out, pick up this book and learn a bit of the a culture that is both amazingly complex and at the same time, humbling and simple.

This book may take you a bit of treasure hunting, but if you do find it, you won’t be disappointed.

Today was library day. Our favorite day of the week, and today as I was looking at the amazing amount of children’s books in our local library, I felt blessed. Yes, blessed. Being a foreigner in Japan, is not easy. Seven years ago, when I came here for the first time, I marveled at the beauty of the culture and the land. A peaceful, kind, polite culture. That was before two children, when our marriage was new, and I was young(er) and just NEWER in life. Nowadays, all I see is hAZARdS, “Oh, no the baby is going to fall into that KOI pond,” “Oh, no we have to WALK, like out in Nature?” “Oh, no, that park is a law-suit waiting to happen!” “Oh, no there are bicycles, and cars, and pedestrians, Yumi and Emi, are going to become roadkill!”

So, yes, that’s pretty much all I was able to see up until recently. After I stared this blog, which was initially to establish myself as a writer, something great happened… as I share bits and pieces of my life in Japan, I am rediscovering the excitement that comes with living abroad, of being a “Gaijin” (short for foreigner). Suddenly, the koi pond is exciting, I want to go on walks, I want to snap pictures, I want to SHARE, the beauty of this country with anyone who will listen… so thank you, anyone and everyone who has ever stopped by my blog and made a comment, it truly has made a change, not in a way I had expected either… I am happier.

And so I share with you, our trip to the library …

And the well-known “foreign” books that are translated. Someday, I will have enough time, to give you a full tour of the library here, I honestly think you would be Floored, in AWE. The Japanese, they spare no detail… from having a breastfeeding room filled with baby board books, to having handmade felt books, handmade aprons for your kids to wear, handmade stuffed toys, and books, books like you have no idea! Cute, beautiful, quirky…

Along my adventure of writing and publishing my first children’s book, I found this gem of a woman; writer, editor and “Jill of all Trades,” Janet W. Butler. My experience with Janet as an editor was such a wonderful one that I knew I had stumbled onto something great.

I’ve been telling stories since I was 10, including writing them down — and even trying to illustrate them. (This was a disaster, as I cannot draw!) When people ask this question, they usually mean, “When did you start seriously writing?” To that, I can say I was in my teens; I entered a short story competition for Seventeen magazine when I was 17.

- As a writer what have been your greatest accomplishments?

1) Winning the Golden Heart, RWA’s top award for unpublished manuscripts, in 1998. This came as a result of 10 YEARS of visualizing and working toward that goal — 10 years of entering, of getting to semi-final rounds (when they still had semi-finals), of getting really high scores but never finaling; then — the first year I finaled, I won.

2) Publishing two novels, including the “book of my heart.”

3) Learning how to make a living with my freelance work. This is both easier and harder than most of us think it is!

4) Being mentioned in more than one author’s book in the acknowledgments. I am a sucker for praise, and any time I see my name in someone’s book, it just makes my day.

5) Teaching online writing workshops for six years, and being a regular guest on them to this day.

6) Speaking at writers’ conferences. I LOVE talking about writing, and if I can do it live in front of a real audience, that’s even more fun.

-What advice would you give someone who is setting out to write a great CHILDREN’S book?

All of this comes with the caveat that I’ve never written a children’s book. Bear that in mind.

The best advice I’ve ever heard for this is “think like a child.” I think you need to love children — sounds obvious, doesn’t it, but it’s not always the case! And I think you need to set aside your adult “stuff” long enough to get down where children are and see the world through their eyes. That doesn’t mean you talk “down” to them; if anything, children have way more complex thought processes than we often suspect, and they can grasp a lot of concepts at a pretty high level if we put them in very concrete terms. And be direct; children are direct little critters!

-For the rest of us just beginning our journey in writing, what do you think is the best way to make a reader stick to our book/story?

See earlier advice about “tell a terrific story.” Now, we all know and lots of books succeed, even though they’re poorly written, if they tell a story people identify with. TOO badly written, however, doesn’t work, either — because bad writing gets in the way of telling that great story. Don’t be afraid to have your book edited; many people are under the mistaken impression that editors “wreck” books or try to make them “all alike.” Not true; the best of us want your book to be YOUR book, but the best darn book you can write. Too many writers were shorted on grammar training in school and honestly don’t know the difference between “affect” and “effect” or a thousand other word usage errors. Give it to a good editor: she’ll find and correct them.

If I could ask authors to do one thing above all else, it’s to check your facts as far as you possibly can. Nothing will get your reader more irritated than to have you mess up something you could easily have researched. I’m thinking about anachronisms — word usages that are wrong for the period of the story, cultural references that are “off,” slang that dates a book, etc. — among other things. Other than bad writing or inept use of the language, that’s the thing that will get me tossing a book against the wall fast. Even if you are “sure” you know it…look it up. It never hurts.

– I understand that apart from your love of words, you are also passionate about music; do you find that one inspires the other?

Absolutely. In fact, there are whole books out there in song lyrics, just waiting to be written. (Too many books, too little time.) I personally wrote my Golden Heart-winning book from a song; I know authors who set up “playlists” of music to use when they’re writing a book. I find that when I’m working as a performer, I’m also better able to come up with creative story ideas.

-How has having a background in a wide variety of trades, ranging from editor to performer to waitress and school bus driver, influenced your writing?

It’s sometimes been a bit of a pain, actually, because I spot errors in books where people who haven’t done the jobs in question assume things about them and write the job wrong! Seriously, though, I think it makes it easier to create characters; when you spend time in a profession’s “shoes,” all you have to do for specific details is either do more of that kind of work or get in touch with someone who DOES it, and you can create realistic characters really doing the jobs you’re talking about them doing — and having the mindset of a person who does that work. That’s a crucial ingredient to really good characters.

-What do you believe makes a great book, be it in children’s or adult literature?

Tell me a terrific story; that’s first. Doesn’t matter what genre it is — if I can suspend disbelief and you keep me in that world, I won’t put the book down.

- What are your favorite children’s books?

I love One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; Little Bear; Where the Wild Things Are; On Beyond Zebra; Clifford the Big Red Dog; and Hop on Pop, among others. I’m sure there are tons more books that after I do this interview, I’ll remember. But these are ones I actually have on my shelf now, in my office. 

-As a writer how much do you feel you’ve improved in the last few years?

That’s tough for me to say; I know I’ve become more aware of my own personal foibles and am more ruthless about going through and weeding them out. (We all have “pet” words we overuse — mine are “just,” “even,” “only,” and lately, “actually” and “basically” have crept in a lot.) I got better at writing fast when I did newspaper columns with twice-weekly deadlines; I’m better at nonfiction right now than I am at fiction, because I’m doing so much nonfiction writing and editing. What I have seen in my writing, personally, is that I need to peel away layers constantly to keep the “nonfiction” voice out of my fiction. It’s an occupational hazard of doing too much of one thing. For any other indicators, you’ve have to ask my critique partner.

-Tell us about your published novels?

I have two: FROM THE ASHES is an inspirational romance that came out from SANDS Publishing in 2001; VOICE OF INNOCENCE is a romantic suspense from Desert Breeze Publishing in 2012. (Yes, I went 11 years without a published book. No, it wasn’t for lack of trying. ) FROM THE ASHES is a “Star is Born” story: two concert pianists, one whose career is on the way down, one whose star is rising — and how they learn to collaborate for life. VOICE OF INNOCENCE is that “book of my heart” I talked about: a man with a sword hanging over his head, and the woman who saves him…with a little help from beyond.

-Where can we find them?

FROM THE ASHES is presently out of print; I’m working on reselling it as a reprint, as the rights have reverted to me. However, I do have some hard copies of the original edition, which I’d be glad to sell to people (and autograph) in the meantime! Just e-mail me at jbutler824@aol.com, and we’ll talk about it.

A caveat, too: some folks have dismissed these because they “never read romance.” Well…some of my best reviews have come from people who never read romance, but who loved these particular books because they’re different from conventional romance fiction. So take a chance — you just might enjoy them.

Have you ever wondered how culture and language influences a writer? Specifically a children’s picture book writer? An odd thing happens when I take my girls to the library here in Fukuoka, Japan. The library is packed from corner to corner with children’s picture books, now, one thing about the Japanese culture, is that they really know how to do cute well “kawaii”, sweet, dreamy, pastel, eye-candy. When looking for picture books to read or look at with my girls, my eyes always seem to focus on “foreign” books. Western books, sometimes even European books. Why is that? Even without knowing the book previously, I am drawn to the ONE book that is most familiar in the style of which I am used to.

This got me wondering… how much of what writers choose to write about is influenced by previous readings? How can a children’s picture book writer think out-side-the-box when choosing WHAT to write about?

Case in point…

I picked up a book Mottainai Grandma by Mariko Shinju, and began reading it to my little one Yumi, who is half-Japanese. Yumi, was born in and until recently had been raised in The States, she has a concept of culture, but at four not a very clear one. As I read, I marveled at how well the author had captured the spirit of MOTTAINAI, I though it was a clever read and could picture full Japanese children, giggling as they thought of their own grandmas. Yumi, not so much, she had no interest in the book, in fact, she disliked it, and we are talking about the kid that LOVES, LOVES, books, any and all.

I understood why Yumi, did not like the book, she could not relate to it. The writer chose to write about something, Japanese would find familiar and thus make for a clever and sweet read.

So I will do my best to give you a taste of MOTTAINAI.

Mottainai, is an expression that says “Don’t be wasteful!” not unlike our “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, HOWEVER, this MOTTAINAI, requires ingenuity to find a useful purpose for something that might otherwise end up in the G-A-R-B-A-G-E (see you can’t even say that word in front of a Mottainai Grandma!)

So, to answer my own question… How much of what writers chose to write is influenced by culture and previous reads? A LOT, so stretch your horizons, explore different cultures through books. And check out Mottainai Grandma, who knows your little ones may love it!

and in honor of Mottainai Grandma, our own Mottainai Great -Grandma WAKAKO who at 94 years old just finished making me a laundry basket out of recycled magazines and newspapers… the wonders of the Japanese…